| UPDATE: New Manager, No HR, stalking problems |
This one is another update from the new manager with the underperformer, whose underperformer was then held hostage and is now living at the office. He's been in touch again, and it's a doozy:
Dear Abigail,
Thank you for your continued assistance with my work. Unfortunately the more dramatic events have continued to escalate.
In the comments of my first email after the stalking, I was emphatic that our work did not require contact with dangerous members of the public. I am forced to conceed I may have to revisit that statement. To whit:
- Marvin's stalker, "Janet", appears to be keeping watch of our place of work. I did not mention this in the last update as it didn't seem important, but she texted Marvin's phone intimating that she only harassed Marvin to target myself, and it is in fact me she plans to kill. Marvin is however obviously still very much afraid and I can't blame him: he's the only one who has actually been harmed by "Janet", after all.
- "Sarah" had a run-in with someone I believe to be equally dangerous ("Michelangelo"). He offered some information about "Janet" to help us, but in the process isolated and injured "Sarah". She is now better and has returned to work.
To say that morale is low is putting things mildly.
Marvin is still living at the office. In the face of ongoing evidence of the presence of "Janet" in the surroundings I made tentative enquiries as to whether he might prefer to live elsewhere but was met with an emphatic negative. As you suggested (and I agreed) that a hug would be unprofessional, I have been making him tea in the mornings for his breakfast and bringing food for his lunches and dinners from home, as I have much more suitable cooking facilities than we have available here at work. I did offer to do his laundry but he insists he has found a local launderette. Unfortunately he is still quite jumpy, for want of a better word. As such I've not yet had that meeting you recommended regarding reconciling our communication styles.
Sarah is throwing herself into her research, but I feel as though she has significantly underestimated the potential danger in question. I understand Marvin may seem easy to dismiss due to his working habits, but we have significant evidence of what happened during the stalking incident. I've always valued Sarah's calm and rational nature, and her need to get all of the facts, but in this case it got her stabbed and nearly killed. I'm not sure how to impress upon her the potential danger we're in.
Tom, at least, is being somewhat overprotective over them both, although he is (quite understandably) more jumpy and irritable than usual. Fortunately, Eli has finally completed most of the security enhancements I require. However, he is still dragging his heels on certain matters, so I'm finding myself spending unending amounts of time in his office to try and get the rest of the work done.
Have you perhaps any additional suggestions to help raise team morale or support them? Eli suggested a team building day. I do not care for such events but I would be willing if I thought it would help. However, I ran it past "Tom" and he confirmed my assumption that it doesn't feel as if Eli is taking the threat particularly seriously.
Kind regards,
(New) Manager Under Siege
Dear Manager Under Siege,
I've been back over your emails and I want to quickly summarise the issues as I see them:
- You were promoted ~6 months ago
- Someone known as "Janet" has stalked and traumatised a team member, made death threats against yourself, and has now put your office "under siege"
- An additional person ("Michelangelo"), has done harm to another team member, causing injury
- As a result of this, one of your employees is living at work
- That same employee needs performance management, which has been paused
- This job was not advertised as containing any sort of danger, nor have you or your employees received any training about this
- You have a manager who, let's be blunt here, expects you to solve your own problems, whatever the severity
Any points to correct?
Taking your emails in good faith, then forget meetings with Eli. You should be badgering the police on a regular basis. Give them any new evidence you obtain about "Janet" and "Michelangelo", and call regularly for updates. You didn't even mention in either of your last two emails you've had what I can only take to be a credible threat upon your life.
Regarding employee morale, I would agree with Tom that a team-building day doesn't strike quite the right note. I think at this point the two key things you can do are:
1. Relieve as much pressure from their day-to-day work as possible, such as delaying deadlines and reducing workload;
2. Assist with their job searches, for example: reaching out to any industry contacts you have about open positions.
I would also recommend a job search of your own - check the tags in this blog for resume and interviewing advice.
Regarding your team members individually: I would advise caution in your relationship with Marvin as it sounds as though you're doing a lot for him that you're not doing for others, and this can complicate what should be a fairly straightforward professional relationship. For example: it could give the impression to Sarah or Tom you're playing favourites, or if Marvin wants more space he may not know how to ask. I can see that you want to help him and that's admirable, but the most helpful thing you can do at the moment is help with a job search and provide a positive reference. With Sarah: you obviously can't control how she thinks or feels about the situation, but I would certainly at this point make it clear that for any fieldwork conducted, additional safety measures are non-optional. If you can, I'd recommend cancelling or postponing fieldwork altogether. If she thinks you or Marvin are overreacting, that doesn't really matter, what matters is she follows procedures, and if she doesn't that's when you need to be ready to discipline her. You can also make clear to her (and your team) that you expect them to treat the situation seriously during work hours - no joking/making comments about how unnecessary this all is. Then, if she says something that contradicts that, correct her firmly in the moment, and don't allow anyone to dwell. If it continues to be an issue then have an individual chat with her. Tom sounds like he's behaving appropriately given the situation, but make sure you're not leaning on him too much: it's not his job to be a counsellor or therapist, and he could quite easily burn out as he's no doubt feeling his own stress. Try to make sure he knows he doesn't have to manage his coworkers' feelings.
All that said, I must re-emphasise, the most important immediate steps relate to your physical safety and the need to involve the authorities and probably find new jobs. Unless I've woefully misinterpreted matters, this sounds like a matter of urgency with an immediate threat to all of your safety.
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